Scan Wireless Networks with NetSpot

NetSpot can be used as a Wi-Fi scanner to easily identify available wireless networks in your area. After a Wi-Fi scan is complete, NetSpot will be able to tell you the name of the WLAN, its security type, whether it requires a password, its signal strength, channel information and more. NetSpot's Discover Mode, which we are discussing in this howto is a really powerful and completely free tool that easily leaves even paid WiFi scanners behind.

How To Scan For Wireless Networks

Step 1. Launch NetSpot. By default, the program opens in Discover Mode, that's exactly what you need for a quick snapshot of the nearby WiFi networks. If you are in the Survey mode after your last launch, just switch back using the control on the main toolbar.

Step 2. You don't need to run a WiFi survey to get a quick overview of the surrounding wireless range. Wait a second or two and the detailed information about existing Wi-Fi networks around you will start appearing in NetSpot.

Step 3. In previous versions of NetSpot you were supposed to run a tiny "fake" wireless survey on a blank map to scan for wireless networks. Since NetSpot 2.0, this is no longer required as we introduced full-featured Discover Mode. So you get the info about all the networks that are not hidden in a separate list. The list is updated every 2-3 seconds. If a network disappears, you can still see it in the list for some time, and find out how long ago it was gone in the Last Seen column.

Step 4. To pause scanning for Wi-Fi networks, just click the Pause button on the lower toolbar. Scanning will stop until you restart it. If you see too many networks on the list, you can filter them by SSID (name) or BSSID (MAC-address).

Step 5.NetSpot's Discover Mode provides detailed info on each wireless network, the list of visible parameters is configurable if you secondary-click the table's header. Usually you would be interested in the network's name, BSSID, vendor, mode, security, channel, signal level, Signal-to-Noise Ratio and more.

Step 6. You can visualize and export historical values sorted by time for the networks discovered. To see historical data visualized in a live graph, click Details on the lower toolbar. To export this data into CSV, click Export on the main toolbar.

That's all there is to it! You now have completed your Wi-Fi scan and have a complete list of the available wireless networks in your area. With this information you can choose the Wi-Fi network you wish to connect to or quickly find the one that interferes with yours. NetSpot offers the best WiFi scanning features among all WiFi scanners for Mac and (unlike some others) the Discover Mode is available in the completely free edition of NetSpot.

March 1, 2015More fixes on the way. A minor NetSpot update, version 2.4.590, is here today to verify you no longer get that irritating noise value of 0 as well as a few other issues. After fixing some major Wi-Fi flaws, it seems that Apple has introduced yet another bug in their AirPort framework, which is reported by MacBook PRO users. Let us know if you still experience anything similar with the latest release of NetSpot. Click here for the complete changelog.

Users say:

“I mapped out my apartment, and can't wait to try it at the office, where we have some significant wireless dead spots I'd like to figure out.” -
funnyone

“Other than having a minimal understanding of the numbers, I found your software very easy to setup and use. It only took about one minute to survey my house (1700 sq ft).” -
Charles Vandenheuvel

Thanks, it's great program already. Going to donate and use it for work since it's free. But I used it at home to determine the best channel for my personal router. -
Junker

I had a professional firm do a three-day site survey of our school and recommend placement of new APs, which are now being installed. With your tool, I think I'll be able to go around the school and see how good of a job they did.
Keep up this project! I can see a day when many schools and companies would pay you something for this (no rush on charging, though, of... -
NS09

My partner just used Netspot to map our coworking space's wifi, very cool! I'm downloading so I can map my town home's wifi. -
John Wilker

Really loving this product, I just input a floor plan that I cleaned up in Photoshop a bit to make the final report more professional looking. -
leapfrogonline

I mapped my whole house out with this app. As it turns out, the absolute worst reception point ended up being on my couch in front of the TV. Dang it! -
Lifehacker

I live in a condo complex in Mountain View – in the middle of “Google World”. There are more home hot spots around here than rabbits during mating season. NetSpot really helped me sort out my interference problems. -
Cris

Dear awesome people at Netspot, If I would come by your office, I would make you barista-quality cappuccino and give each and every one of you at least 10 unique compliments! Seriously, you just gave me the most awesome tool ever. Tonight I found an old dect telephone, unplugged it, and WiFi fine great again. I found it by a clear hot-blue area on the map I made. thanx so much. -
Gerben Hoogendam

All it takes to improve your wireless network is NetSpot and a MacBook connected to your network. Then, walk around and let NetSpot scan and analyze the network. NetSpot is free and actually fun to use and makes it child’s play to find network interference, weak reception areas, and dead zones. -
mac360.com